It's presenting a Mahonia/Berberis/Alloberberis vibe but not quite right. Do you see any remains of flowers or fruit?

Thank you i will take a closer look next time i walk the dog and see what i can find

It resembles Lyonothamnus, but I don't think that would be hardy up there.

https://portlandtreetour.wordpress.com/2014/07/21/floribundus-yes-indeed/

Lyonothamnus floribundus ssp. asplenifolius is a much better suggestion!! But uncommon enough in this area that it did not come to mind. Rated to zone 8, there are relatively mature examples of this scattered throughout the PNW.

Thanks everyone. I was telling my friend that the experts at Name That Plant hadn't come to a consenus, but that we hadn't heard from floral_uk yet. Then he wanted to know how the experts made money from answering questions, and if there was an etiquette about doing your own research first or not asking simple qustions....

I will look out for some bigger examples and for the blossoms this summer.

I'm not sure how much exposure floral may have had to fernleaf Catalina ironwood :-) And tell your friend there is no money involved.....it's just the fun of the ID.

Thanks everyone here is a photo of the peeling bark

Plant of the Month (arthurleej.com)

Lyonothamnus floribundus ssp. Asplenifolius - Xera Plants

Thank you for the links. I will take a picture of this tree in the summer, it should be old enough to flower?

I found that Portland has mapped most of its street trees, and they report two Catalina Ironwood trees. But I don't see an easy way to find out exactly where these two trees are, other than zooming the map and panning through the whole city. https://pdx.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=b4671f4591144530b1c590731923b182e

https://www.portland.gov/sites/default/files/2020/citywide-inventory-report-2017-rs.pdf

The tree in my photo isn't one of the two trees, the map shows no trees at this location. Many recently planted trees are missing from the map.

The house has another smaller street tree with similar leaves, but reddish, dead leaves. Maybe a dead ironwood but hopefully a different kind of tree. I will take some photos.

is this a dead ironwood? :-(

I have a lyonothamnus in my garden in SE portland. It seems to do just fine in the icy east winds. But we have not had a zone 8 winter in awhile so we will see. Another friend has one near Laurelhurst Park and it has defoliated in the coldest winters, but it survived.

I didn’t get a chance to visit the trees in July and august but on my recent visits I don’t see any evidence of flowering. Does yours flower PDXRobertZ8? How big is yours.?

The little one survived the winter after all

Ours is anout 8’ tall and chubby with branches…looks like a large fern. It’s only been in the ground two years, but the trunk is getting thicker so that is good. No blooms yet—too young I think @olreader

Ill let you know if this one ever flowers

Mine has been in the ground for two years and hasn’t flinched during our mild winters. It was nearly completely defoliated by deer last year tho, which really slowed it down. I think I got it at Cistus nursery.